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Leave Donor Defends Polling On Cox

This is what happened when Iain Dale confronted Leave.EU donor Arron Banks after his admission that they had done polls on the murder of Jo Cox.

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In a heated exchange, Leave.EU donor Arron Banks defends his organisation polling on the death of Jo Cox in order to see if it would change how people are going to vote.

The interview got spiky as Banks refused to concede it was a "tasteless" move and instead accused Iain of "living in a media bubble" and "trying to cause a controversy".

"We were hoping to see what the effect of the event was...whether it shifted public opinion," said Banks, who has also made significant donations to Ukip.

"You must have realised when you decided to make public that you had polled that question that there would be a great deal of revulsion to what you've done. Why have you told us about it?" asked the LBC presenter.

"I just don't see it as very controversial," replied Banks.

When Iain told Banks that "tasteless" was a weak word for describing the reaction in texts and Tweets, Banks responded: "That's your opinion...what else do you want me to say?"

The Leave.EU donor then cut across Iain to say that other questions had been asked in the polling.

"I have put questions into polls before," said Iain. "But I normally think, when I've done it, about the consequences. Particularly if it was what I regarded as a tasteless question."

"So you're saying that you should act differently privately to how you act publicly?" asked Banks. He then accused Iain of trying to "bounce" him with the question on the poll.